


Coffee and Pie

by the_technicolor_whiscash



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, I’m back on my bullshit, M/M, The good shit, a lot of accidental touching, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 17:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17063597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_technicolor_whiscash/pseuds/the_technicolor_whiscash
Summary: Dale Cooper, on suspension from the FBI, wonders just why the sheriff of Twin Peaks makes his heart race.





	Coffee and Pie

**Author's Note:**

> Yes as I mentioned I’m back on my bullshit  
> I bet you’re all tired of all these dale/Harry fics  
> Way I think of it is, the more you practice, the better you get at something, so if I keep writing these I’ll end up with something really good

Coffee and pie. Cooper’s two staples in life. Something that, no matter where he went, he knew he would always be able to enjoy it. One of the very few things he could rely on in life. 

The coffee and pie in Twin Peaks were especially good. Maybe it was the atmosphere of the place, with all of its tall trees, fresh air, and unique people. Maybe it was the owner of the diner, Norma, working some kind of black magic. Either way, it was now customary for Cooper to go into the Double R diner every single day for a cup of coffee and a slice of pie. Sometimes he would go there multiple times in a day, trying to work through the day’s clues over enough caffeine to kill a water buffalo. It had become a routine, while working on the Laura Palmer case. After the case had concluded, he continued his routine. He thought it would have to end, as he would have to go back to DC. 

And then, he was suspended from the FBI. It was a perfectly reasonable suspension, to be sure. Though he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to do his job, he was at least a little pleased he could spend a little bit more time in Twin Peaks. Just now, he worked for the sheriff. 

Since Cooper didn’t really have a desk of his own, he spent most of his time working in the conference room. It was a nice enough place to work, but the chairs weren’t exactly comfortable. After one day in which he felt a particularly bad crick in his back, he decided that the best thing he could do would be to go for a walk. 

First, he walked to the office of the sheriff himself. One Harry S. Truman, named after the president. Tall, dark, of average handsomeness. There were some who called him boring, but Cooper never thought so. Harry was standing by the window with a pair of binoculars, and Cooper recognized him to be birdwatching. That was one of the sheriff’s favorite hobbies, birdwatching. 

Cooper found it rather charming. 

“See anything good?” Coop asked. 

Harry lowered his binoculars and turned to face Cooper. “Nothing much yet. A few finches, but those are pretty regular for the area.”

“Fascinating. You know, in all of the places I’ve been, I’ve never seen so many birds as I’ve seen in Twin Peaks. Is it all the trees, do you think?”

“That, combined with the fact that the forests are still pretty dense and we haven’t cut them all down yet.” Placing the binoculars on his desk, Harry asked, “What’s on your mind, Coop?”

“Oh, just needed to stretch my legs. Want to grab a cup of coffee?”

“In the break room, or somewhere else?”

“I was thinking the Double R.”

Harry looked down at the stack of papers on his desk. “I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“I’ll get you a slice of pie.”

Harry sighed. “Alright, but we can’t be gone for long.”

Giving a thumbs up, Coop smiled. “Excellent.”

Five minutes later, they were about a quarter of the way between the station and the diner. 

“Coop,” Harry said, slightly out of breath, “you never mentioned we were walking.”

“Walking is good for you, Harry. Good for the legs, good for the lungs, good for the soul.” 

“It’s like two miles to the diner. And you walk really fast.” 

That was true. Cooper did tend to walk faster than his compatriots, and he tended not to notice it until they were far behind. He slowed his pace to match Harry’s, and realized just how heavily the man was breathing. “Want me to run back and grab the car?”

“No, no, it’s fine. Just slow down a little.”

“Of course.” 

Cooper weighed the situation. If they kept on like this, he would undoubtedly end up walking faster again, with Harry trailing behind. However, if he held on to Harry somehow, he would be forced to mirror his pace. He could probably link his arm with Harry’s, or maybe grab a hold of his hand. But that could also get awkward. What if that was pushing it too far with the physical contact? Harry had always been fine with Cooper’s tendency to be touchy-feely. But he also valued his reputation, and if someone saw the two of them holding hands, his reputation might be affected. 

The thing was, he wanted to hold hands with Harry. It was odd, but something about the concept was incredibly appealing to him. Casual physical contact was something he always did, but holding hands seemed more intimate, somehow. 

He didn’t even realized that he had stopped until Harry was fifteen feet ahead of him, and he had to hurry to catch up. 

“Lost in thought?” Harry asked. 

“I was.”

“Something to do with the case against you?”

“No, not quite.” He took a deep breath, though he had no idea why he was nervous. “Harry, would you mind if, for the remainder of our walk, I held on to your hand? It would simply keep my pace the same as yours.”

Cooper could have sworn he saw the hint of a blush spread across the sheriff’s face. But why? Was it embarrassing? Yes, that was probably it. “Uh, sure, if you think it’ll help.” 

As he locked hands with Harry, Cooper noticed his own heart rate pick up. It didn’t have any reason to. They were just two affectionate friends holding hands. Nothing to get excited about. But his logical thoughts were unable to control his beating heart. 

Cooper had been right, in that he had managed to keep to Harry’s pace while their hands were intertwined. Harry had nice hands. Or at least, Cooper assumed so. He hadn’t known many hands, so he didn’t have much to compare them to. But Harry’s hands were soft, and fit rather comfortably into his own, not to mention the pleasant warmth that emanated from them. Cooper began to wonder why they didn’t hold hands more often. 

Unfortunately, when they reached the diner, Cooper had to relinquish his grasp. Immediately, he felt as though he had lost something. At least by getting there it meant that he was going to finally get the pie he had been craving.

They sat at a corner booth. The diner was as busy as it normally was on a weekday afternoon, the counter full of truckers passing through town and that guy known as Toad. There were a few people in the booths, but they weren’t full. 

“What can I do ya for?” Asked Shelly, the waitress who always seemed to have a certain sadness behind her eyes that was undoubtedly to do with Leo. 

“Two slices of cherry pie and two black coffees, please and thank you.” Coop answered. 

Shelly quickly brought out the pies and coffees, and Cooper immediately dug in. 

“I swear, Norma must be a wizard. Every time I come here, the pie is consistently perfect.” Cooper said to Harry. 

Harry smiled. “How often do you come here, anyway?”

“Every day, usually. A nice little routine I nestled myself into. I was worried I would have to break it by going back to the FBI, but it seems fate has handed me more time to enjoy Twin Peaks’ little pleasures.”

“I feel like I would get tired of it if I ate pie every day.” 

“Ah, but each time, the pie is a little different. Some days, there’s just a dash more sugar. Others, the crust is a little crisper. It adds variety into the mix.” He ate another bite. “Plus, I don’t always get cherry. Norma also makes a mean apple, and some days she makes a pecan that’s to die for.”

“You know more about the menu of this place than I do, and I live here.”

“The pies are the only things I really know. Pies and doughnuts.”

“Doughnuts, the old standby.” Harry paused. “So what’re you going to do when the FBI reinstates you?”

“You don’t know that they will.”

“They will.” Cooper felt a flutter in his stomach at the way Harry said it. The sheriff was more confident about him than he ever was about himself. 

“I don’t know. I’ll probably just get back to work. I’ll miss Twin Peaks, though.”

“Well, I know I’ll- we’ll miss you around the station.” 

Cooper couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll miss you too, Harry. I know we’ve only known each other for a few months, but I can say without a doubt that you’ve quickly become my best friend.”

That pulled a real blush onto Harry’s face. “I’m honored.”

Leaning back in the booth, Cooper sighed. “Yes, leaving Twin Peaks will be hard. Part of me wants to stay, to quit the FBI and live here. I don’t know. What do you think?”

“It’s your life, Coop.”

“But I know you have an opinion.”

“I…” Harry struggled through his words. Clearly, this wasn’t something he expected to be asked. “I mean, I would… I guess my advice would be… I’d like it if you stayed.” 

Cooper nodded. “Then I’ll stay.”

“Don’t change your whole life plan just because of me.”

“It’s not just because of you. I started thinking about it weeks ago. I like working for the FBI, but it’s high time for a change. You just sealed the deal.” 

“Glad I could be of some help.”

It was then that Cooper noticed a spot of whipped cream on Harry’s upper lip. Entirely on impulse, he reached out and wiped it off. Instead of wiping it onto a napkin, he proceeded to lick it off of his finger.

As if in slow motion, everything fell into place. He realized why the thought of leaving Harry in Twin Peaks was so hard. Why he was so excited at the prospect of going out for coffee together. Why he had so desperately wanted to hold on to his hand. 

Oh, no.

The two of them fell into an awkward silence. Cooper at the thoughts now rushing around in his head, Harry presumably at the event that just happened. 

Without a word, they finished their pies. They walked back to the station with Cooper several yards ahead of Harry at any one time. He wanted to be near Harry, but he also needed a clear head in order to work through everything. He went back into the conference room, and Harry back into his office. 

Trying to distract himself with paperwork was a failed operation. All Cooper could think of was the gnawing feeling in his stomach, representing both his newly-discovered feelings towards the sheriff of Twin Peaks, as well as sheer embarrassment from the whipped cream incident. He decided to deal with this by laying on the carpet on his back, using a meditation technique that was supposed to assist in clearing one’s mind. And it worked for a bit, until someone else walked into the conference room.

“Any reason why you’re on the floor?” Asked Hawk, who looked more confused than anything. 

“It’s a form of meditation. Why, do you need the conference room?”

“I was planning on hiding in here and eating half a dozen doughnuts, but I can go somewhere else.”

“Feel free to stay, I should probably get back to work anyway.” He stood, cracked his back, and sat back down in his chair.

Hawk opened up a donut box and offered one to Cooper, but he declined. “Sheriff Truman seemed messed up by something earlier. Got any idea what it was?”

“How should I know?” Cooper realized how defensive he sounded. Jesus, this was no way to act.

“You’re basically glued to his side. Sorry I asked.” Hawk downed a donut in seconds flat. “Was it something to do with you? No offense, but you’re acting a little weird too.”

Cooper sighed. He laid his head on the table. “Yeah. I mean, it was nothing, or at least, I thought it was nothing, but I think I just don’t understand people as well as I thought I did. Namely myself.”

“You tell him you got the hots for him?”

“How’d you know I like him?” Said Cooper, frowning.

“Lucky guess. Plus, you two are always together, and you spend half the time staring at him. Lucy and I have a running bet. I say you two’ll get together before the end of the month, she says it won’t be until after.”

“Is it ethical for an officer of the law to be betting on another officer’s romantic life?”

Hawk laughed. “You tell me.”

“I didn’t even know, or I didn’t figure it out until today.”

“Seriously? Why did you think you were staring at him?”

Cooper shrugged. “I don’t know. Admiration? Regardless, he probably doesn’t feel the same.”

Hawk, having polished off his last donut, stood and wiped the powdered sugar off of his shirt. “I’m not one to get involved in these things, but trust me when I say if you asked him out, he’d say yes.”

The gnawing in his stomach grew more prominent at the mere thought of asking Harry out. “I wish I could say I believed you.”

“Have fun working through that.” 

“Oh yeah, it’s already been the time of my life.” He gave a halfhearted wave as Hawk left. 

Dragging his head off the table, Cooper ran through his options. He could run back to the Great Northern and come back to work in the morning pretending like nothing happened. He could leave Twin Peaks as a whole. Or, the most terrifying of options, he could tell Harry how he really felt, and risk ruining everything. 

Hell. He already had created a crevice between them out of awkwardness alone. There was nothing to lose by saying his feelings. 

Cooper stood. He took a few deep breaths to amp himself up. His heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of his chest and through the floor. Finally building up the courage, he made his way towards Harry’s office. The door was closed, so he knocked. 

“Come in.” 

Entering, Cooper bit his lip. “Hi there.”

Harry, who had been spinning around in his chair, froze. “It’s you.”

“It’s me. Do you have a minute to talk?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Cooper stood in front of Harry’s desk. After a moment, he started to pace. “I’m going to be straight to the point. After I say it, you’re probably going to think me a fool, but I’m going to say it anyway.”

“Alright. Spill.”

“Basically, Harry, it occurred to me after the incident with the whipped cream today that I care about you. But it’s more than just caring about you as a friend.” He took a few breaths to even himself out. “What I’m saying is, is that I’m in love with you.” Cooper wondered if he were going to throw up after all this was over. 

“Coop… Dale.” Harry stood, and Cooper was infinitely worried as to what was going to happen next. “This only occurred to you after you wiped whipped cream off of my face and then licked it?”

Blushing intensely, Cooper closed his eyes out of shame. “I told you that you’d think I’m a fool.”

“I didn’t say that. The hand-holding didn’t give it away?”

Cooper felt as though he had been kicked in the gut. “I had other things on my mind. Please, Harry, just put me out of my misery.”

Harry walked around his desk, before putting his hands on Cooper’s shoulders and pulling him into a kiss. Immediately, Cooper responded by running his hands through Harry’s hair, the thick curls catching between his fingers, pulling the sheriff even closer. 

“I would have done that earlier,” Harry breathed into Cooper’s ear, “but I couldn’t really tell how you felt. I didn’t want to push it, to risk what we already had just in case it was going too far.”

“Well, I told you I was a fool for not seeing it earlier.”

“We’re all fools in love.”

Cooper smiled. “Jane Austen. Very nice.”

“The one thing I took from sophomore English class.” 

Running his fingers through Harry’s hair again, Cooper rested his head on Harry’s shoulder. The sheriff smelled of the woods, and of a hint of day-old cologne. 

“You’re sure you’re not leaving?” Harry asked suddenly. There was more than a hint of sadness in his voice. 

“I’m sure. The FBI’ll have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming if they want me to leave Twin Peaks.” Moving back a little to see Harry’s face, Cooper gently stroked the sheriff’s cheek. “I’m not leaving you, Harry. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that ever since Josie, I’ve just… been scared.”

“I know. I’m scared too. But no matter what happens, we’ll get through it. Together.”

Harry took Cooper’s hand into his own. “Together.”


End file.
